Holy crap...Thunder Snow just dominated the World Cup. Sheikh Mo is having a very good night, indeed.
I'm not going to say the track has any bias, but there seem to have been several front runners who could not be caught tonight.

Too bad Forever Unbridled was taken so wide, but they were tightly packed. Thought she was gonna get up for 4th or 3rd at one point - but wow what a performance for Thunder Snow! I thought he might be a dark horse here but I didn't expect him to win so emphatically.
I was not a West Coast believer, he actually did better than I thought he would. Also lovely run by Mubtaahij. He's definitely a hard worker.

BaroqueAgain1 wrote:TVG's split screen strikes again. Scot Hazelton was able to get an interview with Bob Baffert before the big race, but were we able to hear it? NOOO, we had to hear the call from Gulfstream.

Pretty sure this is a win for their paying customer.....more money bet on the Gulfstream races than Dubai.

Thunder Snow is a handsome horse and may make a very interesting stallion. By Helmet (Exceed and Excel [AUS]) out of a Dubai Destination (Kingmambo) mare, he could bring some fresh (not A.P. Indy, Storm Cat or Unbridled's Song) blood to breeders...if Godolphin decides to stand him here at Darley.

BaroqueAgain1 wrote:TVG's split screen strikes again. Scot Hazelton was able to get an interview with Bob Baffert before the big race, but were we able to hear it? NOOO, we had to hear the call from Gulfstream.

I went directly to NBC after that. Cannot begin to express how much I loathe TVG's coverage of the event.

I wonder where they will go next with him. He isn't even in the same universe as Dubai Millennium, but a horse that is a duel G1 winner on turf in Europe over 7f/8f (admittedly, against very meh fields in France), and a G1 winner on dirt over 10f against some very nice horses... where do you go after this? Lockinge en route to Queen Anne or Prince of Wales's? Met Mile?

I suspect that it will come down to which customer base Godolphin wishes to court. If Sheikh Mo wants to establish TS as a desirable turf sire, the Helmet colt may aim for some of the turf classics in Europe. If, however, he wants to appeal to deep pocketed US breeders, we may see him run here, with the BC Classic as the season-end goal.
It could take a turf stakes or two for them to know where he best fits. And it's not like he HAS to race on dirt here before he goes for a World Cup/BC Classic double. IIRC, Declaration of War had just run on grass before he came within a neck of winning the Classic.